Sol 1830: We've got the power

With apologies to Montgomery Scott, "we do not have the power...," but we will, as today was about keeping our state of charge up in preparation for possible CheMin activities in a near-future plan. Fortunately, that absolutely did not preclude a lot of terrific science and a drive.

Today was a touch-and-go sol. Contact science was planned on a dark-toned target named "Collingham" in the hopes that the darker color indicated either a different chemistry or reduced surface dust. APXS, MAHLI, ChemCam, and Mastcam will all cooperate on observing this target. Mastcam will continue the Vera Rubin Ridge imaging campaign by capturing a 13x1 mosaic of a prominent outcrop, named "Tra Tra," which is the large outcrop at the top left of the above Navcam image. (Mt. Sharp is to the right.) A stereo image will be taken to ascertain the geometry of the bedding. Curiosity then will drive about 11 meters towards the top of a nearby ridge. Post-drive Navcam imaging will be taken as well as an automated AEGIS imaging activity with ChemCam.

ENV accommodated the power-saving requirements of the plan by not performing any imaging and only including REMS and DAN activities. The normal cadence of REMS observations was also scaled back in such a way as to not degrade the ability to perform good science. ENV can ensure this flexibility by shuffling the placement of REMS extended blocks (EBs) from one sol to the next or dropping very low-priority EBs. (Note that EBs should not be confused with the top-of-the-hour 5-minute blocks that are always scheduled.) Though the EB observations themselves are not power intensive, the additional wake-up time to retrieve these data from REMS memory into rover memory so that they may be relayed to Earth (an activity appropriately called a REMS Get Data) can use considerable power if required at night, especially during the winter season. The number of these Get Datas in any given plan can be reduced by simply cutting back on the number of EBs. (For a typical cadence in a 1-sol plan, about three or four Get Datas are required.) ENV can reduce the impact of dropped EBs on science goals by deferring the dropped blocks to future plans. This adaptability can be achieved because the highest-priority EB cadence is designed to capture a full sol of environmental measurements every six sols-that is, there are four evenly spaced 1-hr blocks every sol that get pushed backward by one hour in the following sol. (I.e., Sol 1830 has blocks at 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2100, while Sol 1831 will have blocks at 0200, 0800, 1400, and 2000. And so on.) Capturing a full sol of environmental monitoring at a regular frequency is important to ensure that any localized atmospheric phenomena are not missed as Curiosity explores Gale Crater. Additional high-priority observations support other MSL experiments (e.g., during expected SAM drop-off or atmospheric intake times or Mastcam change detection experiments) and concurrent monitoring when THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) onboard Mars Odyssey or MCS (Mars Climate Sounder) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is observing Curiosity's location. These are impossible to postpone but occur at specific, pre-planned times. At medium priority are periodic HRIM (High Resolution Interval Mode for humidity)-or morning-EBs and a noon EB every sol that looks for pressure drops from small-scale vortices (like dust devils). At low-priority are migrating two-hour EBs to detect any meteorological changes that might last longer than the usual hour-long blocks. All of these EB observations are usually easy to fit in the plan because they do not require the rover to be awake; however, the accompanying Get Datas must occur when the rover is awake. If the timing of awake periods due to other activities, like a communications pass, does not line up with the required Get Datas, then low-priority blocks can be dropped altogether and/or high-priority blocks can be pushed to the following sols to reduce the number of requisite Get Datas in a plan. For example, in the Sol 1831 plan, the 0300 and the 0200 blocks will be captured. In this way, the number of Get Datas and the ENV power requirements in a given plan are reduced, and a full sol of observations can still be taken within the six-sol goal.

About this Blog

These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Contributors

Ryan Anderson

Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ

Michael Battalio

Atmospheric Scientist; Texas A&M University; College Station, TX

Lauren Edgar

Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ

Christopher Edwards

Planetary Geologist; Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ

Abigail Fraeman

Planetary Geologist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA

Scott Guzewich

Atmospheric Scientist; NASA/GSFC; Greenbelt, MD

Ken Herkenhoff

Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ

Rachel Kronyak

Planetary Geologist; University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN

Michelle Minitti

Planetary Geologist; Framework; Silver Spring, MD

Mark Salvatore

Planetary Geologist; University of Michigan; Dearborn, MI

Roger Wiens

Geochemist; LANL; Los Alamos, NM

Tools on the Curiosity Rover

The Curiosity rover has tools to study clues about past and present environmental conditions on Mars, including whether conditions have ever been favorable for microbial life. The rover carries:

There's a line in the halftime scene of the movie "Any Given Sunday": "life's this game of inches…the margin for error is so small." The same is true on Mars. On Sol 1843, Curiosity started her drive with a turn to the right.

When you take a step back and think about all of the things that must go right in order to perform scientific investigations on the surface of Mars, it's hard to believe that we EVER get things accomplished! It also means that seemingly minor issues can lead to significant delays and complications when it comes to developing science plans, commanding the rover, and gathering the collected data. Today was one of those instances when a seemingly minor issue here on Earth significantly influenced our abilities on Mars.

Unfortunately we weren't able to uplink yesterday's plan onto the rover because of a technical issue with the DSN, so we spent sol 1835 in run-out. Today we worked very hard to generate what we affectionately dubbed a "Frankenplan," which is defined as a plan in which one mashes elements that were already prepared (the contact science we had hoped to do on sol 1835) with new elements (a drive).

Curiosity's 13.8 meter drive yestersol brought the rover a few meters higher on Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) to a bit of a plateau. From here we can see over to the clay-rich unit beyond the ridge, and we can see more of the debris fan of the outflow channel that descends from Mt. Sharp, as seen in the accompanying Navcam image.

The science team has been waiting quite a long time for this moment. Back in late March, nearly 180 Mars-days ago and when Curiosity was investigating the last stretches of the Bagnold Dunes before continuing towards Vera Rubin Ridge, Curiosity's scoop gathered a sample called "Ogunquit Beach."

With apologies to Montgomery Scott, "we do not have the power...," but we will, as today was about keeping our state of charge up in preparation for possible CheMin activities in a near-future plan. Fortunately, that absolutely did not preclude a lot of terrific science and a drive.

Before landing, Curiosity's landing ellipse and the foothills of Mt. Sharp were divided up into quadrangles - squares ~1.5 km on a side - to give science team members reasonable amounts of terrain to work with during pre-landing geological mapping, and provide the source of the target names within that quadrangle.

Just when we thought we were going to leave this spot on Mars, we found ourselves stuck here for yet another sol. This time, a fault during one of our arm activities caused us to lose our plans for the past two sols and we were in recovery mode again today.

On Sol 1821, Curiosity successfully completed contact science activities at "Pennessewassee" and "Passadumkeag". Perhaps in an effort to get to more easily pronounceable rock targets, today's tactical team planned a nice long drive towards our next waypoint on Vera Rubin Ridge.

Communication ties our lives together. If phone or internet service goes out in our area, sometimes we have to put our lives on hold for a few minutes or a few hours. The same is true for Mars operations.

Curiosity's weekend "Brushfest" (link to Ken's weekend blog) paid off, revealing the stunning purple color of the rocks of this part of the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) hiding below the veneer of dust on their surfaces.

Planning for Curiosity this morning was a bit like reading a great mystery novel. There were several twists and turns along the way, but we eventually reached an exciting ending that will reveal "Whodunnit?" - or more accurately -- what geologic forces had done to shape this landscape billions of years ago.

Today was an exciting day of planning as Curiosity continued her ascent up Vera Rubin Ridge. The focus of the weekend plan was on carefully documenting the changes in stratigraphy as we leave the Murray bedrock. Fortunately, we are privy to a bevy of interesting targets and contrasting colors.

Curiosity is on the steepest part of Vera Rubin Ridge that it will encounter along its climb. The machine is performing superbly, having driven a 28 meter distance yestersol and having climbed 18 meters vertical elevation in four planning sols.

Perhaps this long Labor Day weekend, you will find yourself on a hike that ends with a particularly steep stretch. On such a steep trail, you will simply want to concentrate on reaching the top of your destination and not be required to perform any other tasks.

Curiosity's drive on Sol 1801 brought us to an excellent location for some contact and remote science in today's 3-sol plan (setting up for a long Labor Day weekend). We'll kick off Sol 1802 with contact science (MAHLI + APXS) on the target called "Tyler," a region of Murray bedrock just in front of the rover.

Curiosity drove 23.3 meters over the weekend, bringing us even closer to the area we will ascend Vera Rubin Ridge. We have reached the point in the traverse where we are no longer headed east along the ridge, but instead are turning to the south where orbital data show the ridge has slopes shallow enough for Curiosity to climb.

Curiosity is now tantalizingly close to climbing up Vera Rubin Ridge. For the past several weeks we have been skirting around the ridge, documenting sedimentary structures and bedrock composition along the way as we work toward our intended ascent route.

After the excitement of a mid-planning solar eclipse yesterday, today was pretty uneventful! We had a nice long pre-drive science block which we stuffed with 2 ChemCam observations to measure the chemistry of targets "Boiler" and "Biljim" as well as a ChemCam image mosaic of the Vera Rubin Ridge.

Even though Curiosity did not drive the planned 15 meters yesterday evening (she only made it about 11 meters), she moved far enough down the road to get in good position to acquire a full high-resolution mosaic of Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) over the weekend, which was the hope for yesterday's drive.

As Curiosity inches closer towards ascending Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR), the science team is continuing to be diligent in both characterizing the local surroundings while also looking ahead and imaging the ridge upon approach.

I was the Surface Properties Scientist, or SPS, on staff today. After completing a successful drive back to the strategic route to continue up the Vera Rubin Ridge, we arrived at a workspace filled with sand and a lone rock outcrop dubbed "Dumplings Island".

MSL drove over 32 meters last weekend, to a sandy area with a few bedrock blocks, but ChemCam suffered an anomaly and was marked sick after the acquisition of the first RMI mosaic of Vera Rubin Ridge. The instrument is in a safe state and turned off, but no other ChemCam observations were successful last weekend.

For this three sol weekend plan, Curiosity sidled up to the base of the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR), whose proximity is evidenced by the 12 degree upward tilt of the rover's parking position, for an extended suite of imaging of the ridge and its surroundings.

Following our month of conjunction and first full day of operations on Monday, we're finally ready to dust off the wheels and get back to driving towards Vera Rubin Ridge. Today was a pretty smooth day of planning, as we're still getting back into the swing of things.

Welcome back to the first full day of operations after conjunction and the fifth anniversary of landing! Curiosity remained healthy over the month long break, so without missing a beat, Curiosity is ready to resume the Vera Rubin Ridge imaging campaign and the trek up Mt. Sharp.

Planetary scientists take their vacations when the planets align. In our case it is because communications with Mars are blacked out when the red planet goes behind the sun. It is called a solar conjunction.

Following a jam-packed weekend of contact and remote science on some beautiful sand deposits, the GEO group opted for mostly remote observations in today's plan. ChemCam will target "Grogg Ledge," a small patch of Murray bedrock in front of the rover.

Last evening (June 27) between 8pm and 9pm PDT, Curiosity drove approximately 34 meters to the east to position herself just north of a large field of ripples on her way closer to ascending the iron oxide-bearing Vera Rubin Ridge.

This past weekend, Curiosity continued to journey east along the contact between the lower portion of Vera Rubin Ridge and the Murray formation with a drive that was a little over 20 m long. Today we worked on planning two sols, Sol 1739 and Sol 1740.

Curiosity has presented us with another beautiful workspace following a 16.6 meter drive. The majority of this week's activities were focused on imaging Vera Rubin Ridge to observe its stratigraphic and structural relationship to the underlying Murray formation.

As this is my first time contributing to the MSL blog, I'd like to quickly introduce myself to you all. I'm Mark, an MSL Participating Scientist and a faculty member at Northern Arizona University, trained in geochemistry, spectroscopy, and remote sensing. I'm excited to help walk you all through the daily endeavors of this wonderful rover and mission!

After a busy day of contact science yesterday, today's plan was dedicated towards remote science and driving. As Mastcam PUL-1 today, I was fairly busy helping put together a suite of Mastcam images for Curiosity to take.

On most weekends, Curiosity dedicates part of her efforts to do contact science - deployment of APXS, MAHLI, and sometimes the DRT - because multi-sol weekend plans have more time and power to fit in these more complex activities.

Today was an interesting day of planning: because of an issue with the computer system responsible for processing data once it is received on Earth, Curiosity's images and other data from Sol 1718 didn't arrive until well into today's planning.

We are beginning to turn toward the east and southeast as we approach Vera Rubin Ridge with the Curiosity rover. After a busy and successful plan over the weekend, we weighed our priorities between using APXS to study the bedrock we’re driving over or drive farther along our path.

Despite the holiday weekend, the science and engineering teams were greeted with a plethora of data from Curiosity when they started planning Sol 1712 - like your birthday and your favorite winter (gift-getting) holiday rolled into one.

Curiosity continues to drive through an otherworldly jumble of in-place bedrock, tilted rocks, sand with small ripples, and local pebbly debris piles. Vera Rubin Ridge continues to loom larger in the rover's forward view, although progress is somewhat slow due to the difficult terrain. Yestersol's drive was 16 meters.

The rover planners parked us in front of the one slab of outcrop - an island among ripples of sand - we could safely drive to from our Sol 1700 position, setting us up to continue our exploration of the Murray formation.

Continuing the steady march up Mt. Sharp, Curiosity drove 18.3 m to bring us closer to a series of features being called megaripples, which are darker and larger ripples than were seen on the Bagnold Dunes.

In the Sol 1673 drive, the rover planners aimed us for a nice curb of Murray bedrock which we could investigate with targeted science (with Mastcam and ChemCam) and contact science (with APXS, MAHLI and the dust removal tool (DRT)) over the weekend.

On Tuesday, the science team had a "soliday", a day without planning to allow the time when the science team plans activities on Earth to realign favorably with when the rover is ready to accept and execute those plans.

Our latest drive put us in position in front of the interesting"Moosehead Lake" outcrop with lots of veins and grey patches: plenty to keepCuriosity busy over the weekend! The Sol 1668 plan starts off with a nice longscience block.

Our drive away from the "Ogunquit Beach" sand dune location went well, taking us about 35 meters to the southwest and putting us in a good location to continue measuring the composition of the bedrock as we drive up Mt. Sharp.

Over the weekend there was a problem with the Deep SpaceNetwork that we rely on to transmit commands to Curiosity, so the rover didn’treceive its instructions and instead went into "runout" mode, where itpatiently waits for commands and

Yesterday afternoon the downlink included some results of ongoing drill feed diagnostics that warrant a further look before proceeding with the dune campaign, so the arm activities from Sol 1652 were pulled from the plan and we did not drop-off to CheMin

Planning was challenging this morning because of somenetwork issues at JPL, but the team figured out how to work around the problemand still managed to put together a good plan! We’ve been at Stop 3 of the dunecampaign (now known as "So

Thankfully I wasn’t actually on duty today, because withdaylight savings time Arizona is now on West-coast time, and planning startedat 6:30am! In any case, the weekend plan was successful, and put us close tothe third stop of the curre

We had an early-morning (6 AM on the west coast!) start toplanning today, which was a bit painful but with the help of lots of caffeinewe put together another plan full of good science! The exciting news from the weekendplan is that the

Yesterday’s plan went well, and ChemCam has run all of theplanned diagnostics and will be back in action tomorrow! Similar to yestersol’splan, the Sol 1603 plan begins with a pair of Mastcam observations which willbe repeated throughout